The UNICEF Innovation Fund provides early stage funding and support for frontier technology solutions which benefits children and the world.

ChainLink Official Channel Expressed:  “Congratulations UNICEFInnovate on welcoming its new cohort of startups focused on building open-source blockchain solutions to promote financial inclusion. We’re excited to partner with the Innovation Fund to advance smart contracts in emerging markets.”

Reportedly, The UNICEF Innovation Fund announces 7 new startups who are developing open-source, blockchain-based solutions toward greater financial inclusion.

The new cohort will be receiving equity-free investments in USD and/or cryptocurrency through the UNICEF Crypto Fund and year-long mentorship with UNICEF’s technical and programme experts and partners.  

This round of investments points to the first time a cohort is receiving both USD and cryptocurrency as well as the first cohort with more than 50% of the companies being female-led. The cohort also expands the Fund’s portfolio to Rwanda.

The startups are Xcapit(Argentina), Grassroots (Kenya), Somish Blockchain Labs (India), BX Smart Labs (Mexico), Leaf Global FinTech (Rwanda), Rumsan Associates (Nepal) and KotaniPay (Kenya).

For more clarity, “The CryptoFund is pooled fund of Bitcoin and Ether. It is a part of UNICEF’s Innovation Fund, with the distinction that investments made through the CryptoFund are denominated in crypto. By sharing the public records of crypto transfers, the CryptoFund aspires to create visibility for the donor and the public, adding a layer of transparent accounting to the donation and investment processes. The CryptoFund is a prototype fund for UNICEF to explore the use of digital currencies, and what it means to operate in a digitally-financed future.”

The innovation fund is used to provide “early stage funding” and thereby support for technology solutions which benefit children and the world.

UNICEF Innovate supports new group of companies – startups focused on “projects benefiting children.”

Startups need funds for product development, building a business model, and user testing suitable for their assessment.

The constitution of the Unicef Innovation Fund consists of:  “UNICEF Ventures team’s tech expertise, UNICEF Ventures team’s networks, UNICEF Ventures team’s platforms.”

Startups receiving support from “UNICEF Innovation Fund” will get access to the tech expertise, team networks, and platforms to get all the help they need to complete their projects to fruition.  This will also help them to tap in to larger funding sources.

The mentors make use of the “business model and strategy around open source technology” to grow their company profits and ultimately grow their profits.

Apart from financial investment, startups and UNICEF Country Offices get technical assistance from the UNICEF Ventures team and also dedicated expert mentors to help validate and improve their solutions.

Connecting with partners will provide valuable expertise in product development. Also, Startups will be able to leverage UNICEF Ventures’ dedicated Data Science team, which hosts and shares data platforms like RapidPro and Magic Box, thus gaining access to unique testing environments such as drone corridors and country office programmes, and utilizing corporate partners for potential follow-on funding.